foraminifer

Etymology


Borrowed from, from , coined by the French naturalist (1802–1857) in an 1826 article. is derived from +.

Noun

 * 1) Any of a large group of aquatic amoeboid protists of the subphylum Foraminifera, characterized by streaming granular ectoplasm that among other things is used for catching food, often with a calcareous shell with many holes through which pseudopodia protrude.

Usage notes
It has been suggested it is acceptable to use either foraminifer (plural ) or (plural foraminifera or ) as long as one form of the word and its plural(s) are used consistently throughout a text.

Translations

 * Basque: foraminifero
 * Belarusian: фарамініферы
 * Bulgarian: фораминифери
 * Chinese:
 * Mandarin:
 * Czech: ,
 * Esperanto: foraminifero
 * Finnish: huokoseläin
 * French:
 * German: Foraminifere
 * Italian:
 * Japanese: 有孔虫
 * Korean: 유공충, 유공충아문
 * Portuguese: foraminífero
 * Romanian: foraminifer
 * Russian:, ды́рочник
 * Spanish: foraminífero

Etymology
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